


Convergence

by Otava



Category: Ripper Street
Genre: Canon Compliant, First Meetings, Multi, Pre-Series, Probably slash, Sadness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-17
Updated: 2016-12-04
Packaged: 2018-08-15 14:21:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8059666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Otava/pseuds/Otava
Summary: Young Sergent Reid discovers two new people have moved into his city.The American one is extremely suspicious.Reid and Jackson's journey leading up to S1E1 in the span of a few years.Pre-Series fic: My take on how everyone met for the first time.





	1. "It's Captain"

**Author's Note:**

> This can be canon compliant if you squint, but I did change/leave out a few details here-and-there to work for me. Sorry to the total of 3 die-hard fans out there who will be angered by this. This also might be slash fic, as it was first intended to be, but I'm not sure anymore because I'm 4 chapters in and nothing has happened. 
> 
> Warning: this fic is terribly cheesy and written for my own enjoyment. No beta.

“Sergeant Reid!”

“Yes, Sir!” a quick and steady reply came.

“Please escort this lovely lady into a holding cell, I’ll be there shortly for the interrogation.”

“Yes, Sir, Detective Inspector Abberline.” A young Edmund Reid led the prostitute into the inner depths of the Leman street station house then led the woman into a cell. He sat her down a chair in the middle of the room for questioning. Meanwhile, he stood in the corner, waiting for further instructions from his superior. 

“Sir, I didn’t do anything wrong, I swears it!” the uneducated woman wept under Reid’s scrutinous gaze.

Reid’s face remained emotionless as he let the emotionally distraught woman to ramble on. He secretly hopped that Abberline would return soon because interrogation was never something he particularly enjoyed doing himself, especially when it really indeed was an innocent woman. Abberline had instructed Reid to arrest her with murder charges in hopes of snagging the real suspect, her co-worker.

“Sir, please!” the woman wept, tensing as she heard Abberline enter the room.

Abberline stalked in, opening the cell door loudly. He bent his towering head down over the helpless young lady in the chair. “There’s some information we need out of you and you’re going to tell it to us right now, Miss,” he boomed.

“Anything!” the frightened woman cried. She wanted to leave.

“Your friend, Miss, Abbot, what kind of godforsaken piss hole has she hidden herself in?”

“She ain’t no friend of mine and I already told you! I don’t-”

“Where!?” Abberline shouted, face red; his spittle flying onto the woman’s face.

The frightened woman developed a stutter. “S-she said she’s gone to work at a new place. One w-where she’ll get protection.”

“And where might this place be?” Reid interjected.

“All I knows is it’s near here...”

“There’s been talk of a new cathouse on Tenter Street? Do you think that where she is?” Reid turned to Abberline.

“Yes, there’s nowhere else she could be. We’ve checked all the known places already I think we should pay them a visit, don’t you Reid?” Abberline grinned a devilish grin.

“You are free to go, Miss.” Reid said, uncuffing the woman and leading her out the door. By the time Reid was done with processing her, Abberline had called in some favors with the higher ups and had a team of a few men and a search warrant ready within the hour.

“Let’s go, men.” Abberline said, leading the way after explaining his search as seizure plan great in detail. The plan was to surprise them, search every room, and flush everyone out.

Abberline kicked down the door and Reid rushed to secure his assigned area.He had already wrangled up three women and went on to the upstairs rooms to get the last of the people. 

He kicked down an inconspicuous looking door and found a passed out man on the bed. The room looked incredibly different from the others. There were medical pictures and books all around; the room had a man’s touch. Reid went up to the man and poked at him with his billy club. 

“Sir, this is a raid and I would very much appreciate it if you would get up from that bed with your hands in plain view, please.” 

The man just groaned, still laying face down, then kindly asked for 5 more minutes because he “really wasn’t in the mood for this shit.”

“Sir, I'm going to ask you only one more time, get up, or I will get you up by force.”

“I’d like to see you try,” came another muffled response.

Reid made a grab at him but the man immediacy jumped to action and held a small knife against his throat. 

“Who are you and why are you in my room” the man asked with wild eyes. He was a foreigner, American from the sound of it.

“Police.” The man then man seemed to suddenly relax after that but still held the knife to his throat. It dug into Reid’s skin. “My official identification is in my left trouser pocket if you care to check.” The man reached his hand into Reid’s pants and grabbed for his I.D card. Reid tensed as he did so. He read it quickly and as he handed it back to Reid then a loud thud came from across the hall. The man made eye-contact with Reid. “The other officers,” Reid explained.

The man seemed to finally believe him then. “What are you doing here?”

“A raid,” Reid repeated. 

“I didn't even hear- And you need to take me in too?”

“Yes.”

“And what if I refuse?”

“Then I'll have to use force.”

“You're the one with the knife to your neck.”

“Then my death will mean yours as well, there are many others besides me. You have no chance of escaping.”

The man laughed,“I suppose you're right.” He threw the knife down on the bed and put his hands up. “I’ll go with you quietly then.”

Reid breathed a sigh of relief. “Good.” He yanked the man up by his shirt collar then put the irons on him to lead him outside. The department had already rounded up most of the people in the building. “Stand over there,” he ordered. The man shuffled into place obediently. Reid went in the building once more to check one last time for the last of the people, ‘That American is a strange one,’ he thought. He had never met a man quite like him.

By the time Reid made it back upstairs, he found Abberline forcibly carrying a woman out of the building over his shoulder. 

“Let me go. I demand you release me!” she shouted.

Abberline threw her on the floor, her hands and legs tied were tied up so she fell hard. “You said to release you.” The woman gave him a dirty look and spat on him.

* * *

Back at the stationhouse the offenders were being sorted as; prostitutes, gentlemen, tradesmen, and others. Abberline soon discovered that the proprietor of the establishment was none other than the woman who spat on him. She wasn’t hiding that fact at all. She practically was screaming it, in fact.

Reid oversaw his fellow officers in the sorting and information gathering process. 14 woman, 8 clients and 1 curious man with the knife. He overheard the middle of the knife man’s questioning.

“Profession?” he was asked by a constable.

“Surgeon; or a Physician if you’d prefer it.” 

“And why were you in the brothel?”

“I live there, as a matter of fact.”

“Erm, do you mean you live there figuratively, Sir?” the confused officer asked

“No, I actually live there. As in, it’s the place I call home,” the American clarified.

“Oh. Uh-”

 _“What do you mean you live there?”_ Reid interrupted the questioning, “I’ll take it from here, Hughes.” The young man moved out of the way and Reid pulled the American to the side. “Explain.”

“Oh it’s you again. Sorry about leaving that little mark on your neck there. I’m usually more careful when I threaten someone.”

“What do you mean you live there?” Reid questioned again.

“You saw my room, didn't you?”

“Yes.”

“Notice anything strange?”

In-fact he had. Reid nodded. “Medical equipment.” 

“Then why do you keep on askin’ if I live there?”

“It’s just atypical for a man in the profession you are in to live in a deplorable place such as that.“

“It’s not as bad as you think. I don’t have many friends here overseas, you see. Most of my medical clients don’t know where I reside. Plus, I get extra clientele from the people coming in and out of the place all the time.”

“Couldn't you find lodging elsewhere?”

“To be completely honest with you: I like it there. I’m getting to know a lot of the girls, if you know what I mean.” He smiled.

Reid shook his head and turned back to Hughes. “I’m done with this one, please place him in a holding cell until further notice.” He didn’t see the man until a few hours later after Abberline had made a little bargain with the Madame of the cathouse. He had agreed to let her go without penalty. Reid didn’t get all the details but he assumed that she was on the department's payroll now. They were asked to release the clients and her workers as well, leaving one man in the holding cell: The American.

“Seems everyone else was free to go, but since you are neither a paying customer nor a whore so I am not legally obligated to let you go freely, Sir,” Reid grinned, taking pleasure in the fact..

“It’s ‘Captain,” not ‘Sir’,” the American said. “And I actually have done nothing wrong; but if you want to be that way how about this; how ‘bout I strike a deal with you?”

“I am not authorized to-”

“Cut the shit. Let’s just say I’ll owe you a favor and I’ll be on my merry way.”

Reid turned his head to Abberline who was in the leaning in doorway. He nodded. He had overheard the whole conversation.

“Looks like your boss says I’m good to go. Be a good boy and let me out, gorgeous.”

Reid made a face and unlocked the cell door. “You’re free to go, _Captain_ ,” he spat out the title with distaste.


	2. Husband and Wife

The disgusting American _man_ had called him ‘gorgeous.’. There were so many things that Reid didn’t like or trust about that stranger. The key reason being that the man walked out of that cell like he knew that he would be doing just so from the second he was placed under arrest. He was such a smug bastard. But then again, there was something charming about his confidence and the way he carried himself as he left. It was almost like a taunt for Reid to dare to try and capture him again, like he was playing a dangerous game. He was certainly somebody Reid would be keeping a close eye on in the future. Not many men held a knife to his neck only to walk free hours later.

It had been about 5 minutes since he had been released but he still stood in the front of the station. Reid and the man made eye contact as he passed by the entrance. He smiled at him; Reid tipped his hat and then watched him in the corner of his eye while he pretended to read paperwork. The Madame of the cathouse came up to him, whispered something in his ear, then took the man’s arm and the both of them walked out of the building arm-in-arm. Reid needed to know more about them.

“I hope they didn’t hurt you too much, darlin’,” the man asked as soon as the two of them were outside.

The woman violently unlinked her arm from his. “No thanks to you, _Matthew_ ,” she hissed in a hushed voice.

“Darlin’, now you know you can’t use that name now, even if you are angry with me. It’s Homer Jackson from now on. Don’t be forgetting that, Catlin.”

“That’s Miss Susan to you!”

“Right, right,” he sneered. “That’s the spirit. So how did you manage to get yourself out of that one so easily?”

“That man just wanted our ‘Miss Abbot’, or Jezabelle as we know her. Apparently she had committed a crime.”

“Ah.”

“In exchange for whereabouts and future tip-offs, I was allowed to procure everyone’s freedom.”

“But mine.”

“A sacrifice that I was willing to make. Besides, I figured you could talk your way out of it.”

“That’s all well and good, but I don’t think having cops hanging around us is a good-”

“What other choice did I have but to accept? It is better to comply with them then having them looking into who we are more than they have to! We can’t fight them, not now. Our living situation is delicate to say the least. We have to lie low for awhile, not make a scene.”

Jackson cackled. “Not make a scene? I saw how you were carried out kicking and screaming-”

Susan’s cheeks reddened. “That was a natural reaction, how anyone would have reacted. It’s not like you didn’t make a scene either.”

“Actually I didn’t,” Jackson lied.

“Sure. Anyway, I want you to be nice to them, those people, if they ever may need your help.”

“I offered just that as terms of my freedom to one such officer. Poor man was looking at me like I was the devil himself when his superior agreed to those terms. I think I upset that one man a lot this evening.”

“What did you do?” Susan asked as they rounded the corner to get back to their lodgings.

“I may have threatened him with a knife and done a little innocent flirting.”

“Jackson!”

“What! I wasn't aware that he was the police. I was protecting myself. Also, he was a looker for an officer.”

Susan raised an eyebrow. 

“Not as attractive as you, sweetheart.” Jackson smiled sweetly.

“What a good husband you are.”

“M’Lady,” Jackson bowed as he opened up the door for his wife.

The girls were crowded by the door as the final two members of their household arrived.

“Miss Susan, we were worried sick. They let us go, told us to return here and nothin’ else. We were afraid they’d kept you two.”

“I’m alright girls. How are you? Are any of you injured? If so, I’ll have to have a talk with the man at the police station about it. It will not be happening again.”

“We’re fine, Miss. A couple of bruises and sore wrists from the men getting a little too rough, but we’re okay.”

“That’s a relief. If any of you girls need any care, please feel free to ask Mr. Jackson, here. He’ll help free of charge, of course.” Jackson nodded in agreement to this. 

A timid-looking girl in the back mentioned her head hurt. Jackson ushered her to his room while Susan stood downstairs to console the girls. 

They met up again at nightfall.

“She didn’t have a concussion, thank God.” Jackson said.

“That’s good. So she’s fit to go back to work tomorrow, yes?”

“Should be. I told her to come and see me if she has any more pain.”

“Today was eventful for us all. We haven’t even been here two months and something as bad as this has already happened. I lost three girls in total today. They said that they didn’t feel safe here and could find better employment elsewhere. We can’t let this happen again.”

Jackson cradled her in his arms and let her sulk. “It’ll be fine. We’ll build up our reputation again and find new girls to replace the ones that left us in no time.”

Susan pouted.

“We can’t be perfect all the time. Especially when we’re still getting used to our lives here. We’re still in the adjustment period.”

“I promised them safety.” Susan started.

“And you have. They're much safer than on the streets. Healthier too, thanks to me.”

“You’re right. And we won’t be here for long, anyway. Just until we have to. I’m sure there is no way my father can ever track us down to a place such as this. We just have to stay out if the newspapers and public knowledge.”

Jackson kissed the top of her head, “With that fantastic British accent of yours, nobody would even suspect you’re as American as I am.”

“Perhaps you should adopt one as well.”

“Nah, It’s my first time overseas, and unlike you, I can’t sound like any of these people if my life depended on it. And it does, in a way,” Jackson chuckled. “I’m just glad that the men at the station didn’t look into our aliases.”

“They still can. They may be doing so right now or might do so in the future. I cannot stress enough how we must lay low.”

“I know, I know. Let’s sleep now. We can’t do anything about what happened today without looking more suspicious than we already do.”

Susan cuddled her husband and bid him goodnight. They slept the best they could given the circumstances.

* * *

Just as the couple fell asleep another couple was reunited for the day.

“Edmund!” Reid’s wife, Emily exclaimed as her husband came through the door. Reid embraced his wife with and twirled her in his arms as she lept into them.

“What are you doing awake at this hour?”

“Oh, Edmund, it was awful. Mathilda had another one of her tantrums. I just got her to bed. I’m relieved that you're home. She's been a terrible thing all day. I wish you were here to help. I do desperately need a break.”

“Today was a rough day for me as well, but I will make sure to discipline her tomorrow.”

“What happened, dear?” Emily gently touched the scratch Jackson had left on her husband's neck, now noticing his disheveled state.

“We raided a brothel today and I accidentally startled one of the men there. “

“I do hate it when you get injured. You should be more careful.” Reid stayed silent. “Do you want me to dress the wound?”

“It's just a scratch. I should be fine.”

Emily smiled and touched his face. “There should be some food for you on the stove if you haven't yet eaten. I was just about to retire just as you came in. Eat and then join me.”

“I will. Goodnight, Emily.’

She was still awake when Edmund came to bed. He carefully changed into his bed clothes and washed his body before entering the room. He had thought that his wife would be well asleep by then. She was not. He could tell she was awake by the way she was breathing despite the fact that her back was turned to him. He scooted closer in bed until he was spooning her. His arm around found its way her waist and her hand found its way to his as they kissed.


	3. He did not want to see that.

Edmund and Emily Reid woke up in a state of undress to the sound of little feet pattering across the floor. “Don't worry. I'll get her while you sort yourself out,” Edmund said to his wife, quickly pulling his clothing on.

“Mathilda,” he called once in the hall.

“Daddy!” squealed the little girl, running towards her father. “Missed you, Daddy!”

“I missed you too, my little angel. You're mother told me that yesterday you were cross with her and refused to go to sleep?”

“Yes...but...that was only because I was….was sad that you weren't home to read me my bedtime story.”

“Oh, Mathilda, you silly little girl. I told both you and your mother that I would be coming home late.”

“But I wanted to say goodnight to you…”

“And you can tonight. And if you don't give your mummy any trouble, then I may read you a bedtime story.”

“I'll be good, I promise!” the young child exclaimed.

“What are you two chatting about?” Emily interrupted, finally appearing in the hall .

“Daddy’s going to read me a story!”

“ _If_ you are good,” Reid clarified.

Mathilda looked up at her parents with a radiant smile

* * *

Months had passed since the raid of Tenter Street Brothel took place and the residents were finally getting back to the swing of things. Fortunately, no inquiry had been made on either “Long Susan” or “Homer Jackson.” Every day that passed lessened their apprehension and tension but there was always a dark cloud of doubt hanging over them, nonetheless.

Another problem in the household started that caused concern, however, Jackson was a hopeless flirt when he was with some of the girls.

“You are a married man and you need to stop!” Susan told her husband.

“Nobody here knows that I’m married! If they knew it was you to who I was married they would stop immediately. The girls here are the ones flirting with me, Susan. Bedsides, there's no harm in a few exchanges of words here and there.”

“I shall tell the girls to stop as well then.” Her tone was harsh.

Her husband came and put a hand of each of her shoulders, looking right into her eyes,“You’re the only one for me. I love you Caitlin and I reckon I always will. Till death do us part, right?

A small smile spread across her lips. “Yes.”

“Now come over here so I can show you how much I love you.”

* * *

Edmund arrived at the station house approximately 10 minutes late that day. It had been a long week. A double homicide that had yet to be solved. “Where is Abberline?” he demanded.

Shoulders shrugged and a chorus of voices chimed in, all saying, “I don't know.”

“Somebody call upon upon him, wherever he is staying.”

Reid waited around another 15 minutes doing work by himself until the boy returned. “Well?” he asked. Apparently, nowhere to be found. Reid did his best to carry on but he needed the Senior Inspector’s knowledge and rank to pursue what he was doing any further. 

“Does anyone know where the Inspector might be?” he loudly asked again, now in an irritated mood. They needed to solve the case soon and he tired of waiting

“Told me he was going to that Tenter street brothel before work,” an elderly officer disclosed, quietly. 

Reid’s face whitened. “Oh.”

“I can go have somebody fetch him if he's still there,” the man said.

“No need. I shall go myself.”

Reid walked in the doors of the brothel’s building for the second time in his life. Little did he know it would be far from his last.

“Has a greying man with mutton chops walked in here?” he asked. “Goes by the name of Abberline.”

It was not the Madame who was there to greet him this time but rather one of her girls. “I am sorry, but I not obligated to say, sir. Would you care to see one of our girls instead?”

“Police,” Reid gritted through his teeth as he flashed his badge.

“Oh.” The girl seemed to recognize him from the raid now. “Yes, he’s upstairs and to the left. Last door.”

Reid thanked her then started upstairs. There were a lot of doors and even more of a variety of noises going on as he walked on. It made Reid feel sick and uncomfortable. When he got to the hall, he noticed that the last door was left open. Reid peeked in. 

There, instead of Abberline, he found the American buck naked and balls deep in none other than the madame of the cathouse herself. He stood there in shock and awe as the man thrusted again and again into the woman. The madame didn’t see Reid standing there in the doorway but the American saw him. He saw him alright, as he looked up at him and stared straight into his eyes for a couple of seconds, winked, smiled and then resumed what he was doing. Reid was momentarily immobilized from the display before him but as soon as his feet suddenly started working again and he rushed downstairs and out the door. His quest for Abberline be damned.

When he got back to the station Abberline was already at work. “Where have you been, boy?”

“That brothel on Tenter Street. I was told you that you were there…”

“Ah. Yes. Yes. I had to ask the Lady there a few questions regarding the case before work,” Abberline said impatiently “You must have just missed me there”

“Yes, I must have.” Reid said on autopilot. He felt strange, having seen what he saw. It was unsettling and made him feel bizarre. Even worse, it would probably be seared in his memory forever. 

“Are you ready for another long day's work?” Abberline asked.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He saw the American in his mind when he did so. With an exhale, he opened his eyes. “Yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ripper Street is ending in like a week!!??! I want to post/write more but i've been busy af.  
> I hate the second half of this chapter but this is what I wrote in my outline and I'd have to re-write this whole fic if I didn't keep this in and I don't have time, sorry.


	4. Alone

‘Sergeant Reid’ was now promoted and known as Detective Inspector Reid. The burden he had been carrying as sergeant became tenfold more difficult to bear as Inspector. He now had to make decisions that held a lot of weight on them and sometimes there was only the choice of the lesser of two evils as his available option. Since he had been promoted, Reid spent so much time at work which meant often leaving his wife and daughter without a husband or father. Within less than a year, he could feel his relationship with them straining. Being around his wife became more out of a routine rather than a joy. They just existed with each other in a mechanical and dull harmony. He spent many nights sleeping in his office at the station rather than wasting his time to go home and wake up his family...

Life had just gone on, but then a murder happened, then another and a serial murderer was born. ‘Jack the Ripper’ they called him and he was responsible for the most gruesome killings Whitechapel had ever heard of. It was all that the press talked about, no thanks to Fred Best. 

Paranoia spread; the whores of Whitechapel were especially frightened. Susan did her best to comfort them. A strict curfew was set and street-prostitutes flocked to building that could ensure them safety. Ms. Susan gained many girls for her brothel; she protected them in the safety of her little building. Because they stayed inside, they grew restless and because they grew restless, some of the girls got closer to a certain captain than they should have. Susan grew suspicious and cold to her husband and he was pushed away. A young girl named Rose became especially fond of him. She was discovered by Susan entering and exiting his room many times.

Susan confronted him about it and Jackson claimed that nothing was happening, and nothing was at first. But she grew distant and the willing girls became more tempting and there became a point in time where his truth becomes a lie. He didn't mean for it to happen, he really didn't, but Susan had been so damn suspicious and cold that he couldn’t help give into willing temptation. Or at least that's what he told himself as the affair started.

* * *

“Edmund, please, may you look after Mathilda for _one_ evening so that I might have time for myself.”

Reid had worked tirelessly day and night during the Ripper case. Reluctantly, he agreed to his wife’s request. And for the first time in 10 days, he came home upon his wife’s request.

He knew Emily needed a break and that he needed to spend time with his daughter. He had actually missed her. They went on an outing. It all went well until word came about Mr. Silver, a Ripper suspect’s, movements. 

Then he was forced to make a decision. He, in the end, decided it would just be faster to take his daughter along with him than to find someplace to drop her off at. He took her with him, bought two tickets and boarded the steam liner which the suspect had also boarded.

“Daddy! Can I go play with them?” Mathilda pointed to a group of young children playing and running around the deck.

He said yes. It would be easier for him to stalk Mr. Silver that way. If he had to arrest him or even take his life in a struggle, he would not want his daughter to be there to see. ‘But she shouldn’t even be there with him in the first place,’ he reminded himself.

Reid’s personal thought about his daughter caused him to lose sight of the suspect in question. Quickly, he struggled to find the man again. He spotted him, but got too close. The man recognized him as a copper. Then the accident happened. The screeching of metal was almost unbearable. There was fire and smoke in an instant and Reid, for once, abandoned his work to look for his daughter. 

He saw her just as he slipped into the water, calling his name. A pipe came down upon his just as he was about to chase after her, the pain was unbearable and he cried out in pain. 

The scent of his own burning flesh filled the air as he opened his eyes again to see one last glimpse of his daughter.

Telling his wife what had happened to their daughter was the most difficult thing. She didn’t speak with him for a long time. He had even told her a lie, that he took Mathilda on an outing on a the water, neglecting the part about the Ripper Suspect. He knew that if he ever told her the truth, she would leave him without question.

He stayed at the stationhouse even more and started frequenting the pub, heavily.

“Sir,” Reid’s friend and co-worker and friend, Bennet Drake said. “You need to start taking care of yourself.”

He could not. He was utterly destroyed. Clinging to work and drink was all he could do, and when that was done all he had were his memories.

* * *

Susan and Jackson had tried to make themselves scarce around the police department, as to not draw attention to themselves and prompt further investigations. 

Jackson and Reid crossed paths in the streets every now again but they hadn’t talked besides that one night. They did their talking with glares and starting from across the streets. Their behaviour was almost predatory when they crossed paths. Sometimes they tipped their hats in acknowledgement of each other, but that was the most that happened.

Soon, Jackson noticed Reid looking sadder and more haggard with each encounter. Now when he saw him in the streets, he was always looking worn out and depressed. He no longer cared to accusingly stare at Jackson like he did in the past, which was something that Jackson had to admit he missed. 

It was their thing, staring in each other's eyes, challengingly. But Reid no longer had the fire for it.

* * *

Every-time Reid saw the American in the streets, he remembered seeing him fucking the Madame of the brothel. That memory never left him and haunted him on lonely nights when he really didn’t need the thought to pop into his head. The man was perplexing.  
In his spare time leading up to the Ripper case, he had even tried looking into him a few times. He found out that his name was Homer Jackson and he had arrived from New York only a few months prior to them meeting, but beyond that, he didn’t know much.

* * *

It had been months since Reid had lain with his wife. The grief he felt was unbearable and he needed a release. 

He found himself walking past Tenter Street one day and stopped at the place where he knew the American and Madame were. He thought of going in, but decided against it. This happened a few more times. He made it as far as the door once, but then headed to the pub instead like he always did. He was a horrible husband and father and needed to suffer for it.

Jackson caught the inspector outside his window. He never saw him so close to the building before. ‘Curious,’ he thought. He saw him a few more times. The man looked even more sad than he had been with each occasion. He often looked drunk too. Jackson decided to follow him to the pub one day. He knew that he shouldn't be poking his nose in a policeman's business, but he just couldn't help it. 

Reid walked around for a bit then entered a pub where he sat down and had a few drinks. His eyes were lifeless and he just stared at the table, alone. 

Jackson left the bar unnoticed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not gonna lie: I had this chapter plus one more chapter written since mid-september but I couldn't bring myself to "edit" it. S5 ruined me.


	5. "No Reason"

The Ripper case went on but was not solved. All the leads that they received or collected either fell flat or lead to a dead end. It seemed impossible to close the case and looked as if they would never be able to. Reid became increasingly depressed everyday more Jack the Ripper roamed free.

It turned out they had one solid lead left, so they chased after it, blindly. Reid and a half a dozen men found themselves in an alleyway. The suspect was surrounded and the officers began to close in. A young constable got a little too close and he was stabbed as a consequence. The other officers relieved him of the knife and piled on, capturing the man. Reid instructed two officers to head back with the man while he and the other three men attempted to help the bleeding man. Blood was pouring out everywhere. Reid looked around unsure what to do as he put pressure on the dying young man’s wound.

“Go fetch the surgeon Captain Jackson of Tenter Street,” he ordered one of the men. They were nearby enough where if he hurried he could probably save the young man’s life. “Now!”

Jackson was lounging in his bed having a smoke when an officer with bloodied hands came bursting in. Out of breath, he managed to say “I- Please come. Dying,” in a wheezing voice. Jackson didn’t know what was happening but he sat to attention immediately. Then, he grabbed his bag then followed the man out of the door. He had no idea what the problem was or who was hurt, but he felt a duty to answer a call on him to save a life. When Jackson and the man came to a stop, he was surprised to find DI Reid hunched over and clutching a man’s bleeding wound.

“He’s dying. I need your help,” Reid said, his gaze piercing through Jackson’s confusion. 

That was the first time he’d heard his voice in almost a year. Jackson nodded and got straight to work. Reid hadn’t let his eyes off of Jackson’s working hands the whole time.

“He’s going to make it…” Jackson announced after working silently and in extreme focus for awhile. A collective sigh of relief from Reid and the remaining men was let out. 

“Thank you.” Reid shook their bloody hands together. “I don’t know how to thank you enough.”

“Perhaps next time you are in front of my quarters, you’ll actually come in for once. You can even pay me a visit if you wish company not of the fairer sex.”

Reid’s hand immediately recoiled at the way Jackson had said this. So he knew about his journeys near the brothel? Maybe he was watching him too.

“Or you can just buy me a drink as thanks,” Jackson said. “Just one.”

That was even more suspicious to Reid. Jackson possibly even knew about the drinking. Reid’s eyes squinted as he looked at the strange man he knew almost nothing about. “Come by the station and I’ll buy you a drink after work.The carriage is here and I need to get this man to hospital right away.”

“Of course.” Jackson tipped his hat and began walking down the street again. When he got back, he washed his hands and equipment, wondering why Reid had thought of him first when there was another surgeon closer by.

* * *

Reid returned to the station from the hospital to question the man. Or rather, have Bennet encourage the man to answer them. Even Bennet wasn’t hesitant about holding back with his punches today. The man had hurt one of their own and was their last lead on The Ripper. 

After he was done, they found out that the man was merely a thief who robbed one of the Ripper bodies after the fact. He had been lying low but recently resurfaced in the recent months. He knew nothing.

“That was a waste of time. For all the trouble he was worth, he could have given us something!”

Bennet rubbed at his sore knuckles. “Yes. It is such a shame.”

They sent the men away to prison.

* * *

“Inspector Reid, there’s a man in the front who says you owe him a drink.”

Reid paused his paperwork. The American actually was going to take him up on but a casual friendly promise of a drink! “Send him in.”

A creak of the door signaled Jackson’s entrance. “I’m almost done with this one last report then I will buy you your drink, Captain.”

Jackson sat down in the chair across the desk. “No trouble at all; I can wait.”

Reid felt the American staring at him whilst he was writing. Just as he himself had stared at Jackson while he was stitching up the constable earlier. Irritated, Reid scribbled in one last thing and gave up on his paperwork prematurely. He could no longer subject himself to the American’s scrutinous gaze. “I am done.”

“No you ain’t.” 

Reid huffed in annoyance. “Do you want that drink or not?”

“I’ll take the drink. But you can finish your paperwork while I take it. I suspect you keep something to drink in your desk, yeah?”

Reid took a bottle half-empty and poured Jackson a glass. When he tried to put it back, Jackson grabbed his hand and set the bottle back upon the table. They were glaring at each other angrily now. Reid turned his eyes from his gaze and went back to his work while the American drank. He had a lot to catch up on. The officer getting stabbed had caused Reid the most sober he had been in awhile, even though he did have a small drink on the way back from the hospital.

“So why did you call on me today.”

“We needed a surgeon.”

“But I wasn’t the closest one. Miller was only a couple shops down. And you didn’t even know if i was any good or not. I am good, by the way, and even better than him; but you certainly didn't know this.”

Reid stopped writing again. Now that he thought about it, the American spoke the truth. “I don’t know,” he answered honestly. “We were in a rush and you were the first person I thought of.”

“Me?”

“Yes. I do not know why.”

“Perhaps my sparkling personality stuck with you from that first encounter of ours.”

“Don't be absurd.”

“Or perhaps you remembered me from another occasion. I've seen the way you look at me when we see each other in the streets. Not to mention you being outside my window most days.”

“Mr. Jackson, I-”

“Do you remember that one time? The time you saw me fucking in the whorehouse. You stood there and watched. Do you think of me often? ”

Reid’s face was even more red and angry. “Enough! I did not invite you in my office to start listing off the sins of my past.”

“It seems to me like you’re stressed. You’ve had a rough time haven’t you? Drunk all the time, stumbling back to ste station, sleeping in the gutter. I’m surprised you're still alive after the way you’ve been treating yourself.”

“You have no right-”

“I think you need need a good fuck and since you refuse to come into the cathouse or go to your presumed wife for one, I’m willing to provide that for you.”

“Excuse me?” Reid said incredulously.

“I’ll be returning that favour you owe me for letting me out of jail and not pressing charges on me or any of the woman of Tenter Street and we'll call it square from now on. We never have to see each other again. I don't-”

“Why would you be offering this to me?” Reid questioned, unsure.

Jackson just laughed, getting up from his chair and making his way behind Reid’s desk until he sat down at the edge again, facing Reid, “So you’re not opposed then?”

“I-”

Before Reid had a chance to answer, he was surprised by Jackson's mouth kissing him fervently. Reid didn't oppose to it as he should have. The kiss was his ticket out if he wanted it but he just couldn’t. It felt good and he hadn't felt any tender touch at all in such a long time. His body craved it. He thought that he would be repulsed by the fact that it was a man who was touching him, but he wasn't. “Yes,” Reid groaned. He pulled Jackson closer to him and a few minutes later, Jackson was on his knees.

* * *

As soon as he was done, the American got up, wiped his mustache and adjusted himself in his pants, then said, “I guess we're even now. Don't be calling on me again unless it's absolutely necessary.”

Reid was left alone at his desk with his trousers around his ankles. He was well confused.

* * *

Jackson rushed out if the station as fast as he could, immediately regretting what he had done. 

The man could easily have him arrested! Somehow, Jackson knew that he wouldn’t be the case, however. He’d enjoyed it too much and certainly didn't object to it at the time. It was just a simple exchange between the two of them in effort to be put in god favour for Susan and himself. Doing what he did was beneficial to everyone and a good way to end a complicated relationship with an almost stranger. 

The chances of Reid ever calling upon him again were low. He didn't seem like a man who necessarily wanted to revisit such an activity.

“Why are you out of breath?” asked Susan, as her husband came swiftly in the door with his chest heaving.

“No reason.”

Susan narrowed her eyes at her husband.


End file.
